UB History Majors Receive Scholarships

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Fifteen history majors at the University at Buffalo have been awarded more than $39,000 in scholarships by the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences in recognition of academic excellence, for displaying leadership and other positive personal qualities, and to pursue study abroad.

"Compared with even wealthy private universities, UB's history department is remarkable in the amount of support it can offer undergraduates," said David A. Gerber, professor and department chair, noting that the funding comes from generous donors who have been either UB history majors or served as faculty members in the department.

Winners of the Milton Plesur Scholarships, which recognize academic excellence, are Sophia Azeb of Endwell, Ashley Corliss of Glens Falls, Alex Johnston of Kenmore, Cortney Krueger of Wilson, Domenic Lanza of Holtsville, Agnes Nduka of Buffalo, Jerrod Paul of Syracuse and Charles Skowronski of Buffalo.

The scholarships are made possible by the generosity of long-time UB history professor Milton Plesur, who left his estate to UB when he died in 1987.

Plesur also underwrote the Milton Plesur Study Abroad Awards. This year's winners are Rachel Felix of Buffalo, who will spend a semester in Siena, Italy; Cortney Krueger of Wilson, who will attend a summer program in Berlin; Jeffrey Shevlin of Hamburg, who will participate in a study-abroad semester in Leicester, England; and Robert Vanwey of West Seneca, who will spend the summer on an archaeological dig in Xian, China.

The winner of the Schoellkopf Study Abroad Award is Ralph Walters of Singapore, who will attend a summer program in London. The award is made possible by the generosity of Frederick J. Schoellkopf in memory of his wife, Toby Bloom Schoellkopf, a graduate of the UB history department.

The Bryan Argo Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to a history major who best embodies the ideals -- including integrity, hard work and love of history -- held by Bryan Argo, a UB history major who died in an automobile accident during his senior year. The 2007 Argo Scholarship winner is Brianna Sieber of Brockport.

Brian Lewis of Rochester and Anthony White of Getzville are the recipients of the Joyce J. and John D. Milligan and Family Scholarships, given to under-represented minorities who are dedicated to the study of history and who exhibit positive personal characteristics. The endowment for the award comes from John D. Milligan, a UB professor emeritus of American history, and his family.